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The Panthers would be stupid not to hire Steve Wilks.
The Panthers became the first team in 2022 to fire their head coach when Matt Rhule was axed following a 1-4 start. Now Carolina should become the first team to hire their new coach as well, and name Steve Wilks as the permanent coach of the team.
There’s a very short list of coaches in the NFL who have done a better job over the last 10 weeks than Wilks. Inheriting a literal dumpster fire, he’s not only been the steadying force the team hoped for — but legitimately has the Panthers in the playoff hunt despite trading away their best offensive player in Christian McCaffrey. Without a decent quarterback, and using a bizarre stable of running backs by committee, the Panthers are buying in and control their own destiny.
Sunday was the culmination of everything Wilks has done since taking over the reins, beating the Seahawks in Seattle in a game nobody predicted. Defensive prowess was the name of the game, as Carolina picked off Geno Smith twice, sacking him three times and otherwise making his day hell. Meanwhile Sam Darnold played mistake-free (albeit unremarkable) football en route to a 20-17 win.
It brought Wilks’ record to 4-4 on the season, which sounds mediocre — until you compare to Rhule’s 1-4 start — and Wilks is doing it with a markedly worse roster.
Steve Wilks deserves to be a head coach in the NFL, and he has for years
It’s not even worth counting Wilks’ single year in Arizona as an “opportunity,” because 2018 was a farce. After being regarded as one of the hottest prospective head coaches in the NFL, WIlks interviewed literally everywhere. He was strongly linked to the Rams’ job before the team hired Sean McVay, the Giants showed interest before settling on Joe Judge. Report after report touted Wilks as being fantastic in interviews and winning over front offices, only to see them predictably pass over a minority candidate.
In the end it was Arizona who offered him the head coaching job, which was more akin to being thrown to the wolves. The Cardinals were a decimated team needing to completely rebuild following the Bruce Arians/Carson Palmer era, and their roster was in disarray. Coming from a defensive position coaching background Wilks didn’t have a lot of influence in his first draft, especially with established GM Steve Keim calling the shots. Keim selected Josh Rosen with the No. 8 pick, and the team signed a broken Sam Bradford to start the season.
Wilks made the call to pull Bradford in order to get Rosen reps, as a good coach would who’s been tasked with rebuilding a team. It’s easy to play revisionist history, but Rosen was seen as the most pro-ready QB in the 2018 draft, and while he was absolutely garbage — this wasn’t a hasty decision to throw in a developmental QB out of desperation.
The Cardinals went 3-13, as one would expect with their dearth of offensive talent and a horrific rookie QB at the helm. Wilks was never given a chance to actually build the team, fired before the end of the calendar year so the team could go all-in on hiring Kliff Kingsbury.
Wilks also showed a hell of an eye for coaching talent, even in that horrific season. He gave Byron Leftwich his first chance as offensive coordinator, and on defense he hired Al Holcomb, who is now dominating as Carolina’s defensive coordinator under Wilks.
This is a man who has basically thrived at every level of football outside
The resume here really speaks for itself. Outside of the unfair chance he was given in Ariozna here is every NFL stop Wilks has made as a defensive position coach or coordinator and how teams have performed under him:
Chicago Bears defensive backs coach (2006-08): 22nd ranked in pass defense
San Diego Chargers defensive backs coach (2009-11): 8th ranked in pass defense
Carolina Panthers defensive backs coach (2012-16): 12th ranked in pass defense
Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator (2017): 7th ranked defense
Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator (2019): 22nd ranked defense, up from 30th in 2018
This is a man with an eye for defensive talent, particularly in the secondary — which meshes extremely well with the modern NFL. Second year cornerback Jaycee Horn is particularly thriving in the system that Wilks built and Holcomb inherited, recording three interceptions and defending seven passes in just 11 games returning from injury.
Carolina would be so dumb to let Steve Wilks slip through their fingers
The grass is not always greener. The Panthers know this as well as anyone. The league is littered with failed coaching experiments right now where teams are regretting chasing the golden goose instead of appreciating what they had a home.
The Washington Commanders are thriving with Ron Rivera, who the Panthers fired so they could hire Matt Rhule. The Raiders are on fire after getting rid of Rich Bisaccia in favor of Josh McDaniels. The Broncos going with Nathaniel Hackett over Vic Fangio. Hell, we could even look at the Cardinals choosing Kingsbury over, you guessed it, Steve Wilks.
Carolina tried their hand at the big flashy coaching hire and it blew up in their faces. The most success this franchise has ever had was with two, relatively boring defensive coaches in John Fox and Ron Rivera. The Panthers have let a lot of great people go internally. Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane with the Bills are just one example. At this point Wilks is a part of the team’s DNA, and has been largely for the last decade. The players are responding to him, the team is swinging way above its weight class with mediocre talent, and there simply isn’t a deep pool of possible coaches to pull from.
Wilks deserves a chance, a real one. An opportunity to get 2-3 years to build a franchise in his defensive image. It wouldn’t be a sexy hired that would garner lots of national buzz, but the best coaches rarely do when the dust settles.
Just don’t screw this obvious decision up, Carolina.
